DISCOVERIES

Discoveries

A new study suggests that some babies who fail to respond to their name by 1 year of age may be at heightened risk for an autism spectrum disorder.

Early identification can mean possible early intervention and better outcomes for affected children, say the authors of two studies aimed at early detection, published in the April edition of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. A third study finds that every individual with the disorder accrues about $3.2 million in costs to society over a lifetime.

Autism spectrum disorder seems to be becoming more prevalent, with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announcing that one in every 150 American 8-year-olds have some form of the disorder. That number is higher than prior estimates.

Autism's causes remain a mystery, though prior research has pointed to a strong genetic component. Children and adults with autism experience difficulty with social and language skills and often display repetitive behaviors. But the disorder usually is not diagnosed until age 3 or 4, even though as many as half of parents with autistic children report problems with development progress before their child's 1st birthday.

Breakthrough in blood type

Scientists say they have found a way to change Type A and B donated blood into universally usable Type O.

If found to be safe and effective on a large scale, the discovery would greatly expand the supply of available blood and might even make shortages a thing of the past, experts say. For now, Type A and B can be used only by people with those types.

"The Red Cross is very interested in and supports this science and looks forward to seeing the clinical data on this," said Dr. Richard Benjamin, chief medical officer at the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C. The findings were published last week in the online edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology.

The new effort was led by Dr. Henrik Clausen of Harvard Medical School and the University of Copenhagen.

Bad news in hospital safety

Patient-safety incidents in U.S. hospitals increased by 3 percent overall from 2003 through 2005, and the error gap between the nation's best- and worst-performing hospitals remained wide, according to a report by HealthGrades, an independent health-care ratings company. It examined more than 40 million Medicare hospitalization records at almost 5,000 hospitals.